Crime of Passion
by DuchessOfGere
Summary: A 20XX Zetsuai spin off. I loved the music video, so I felt compelled to write something for it : D. Izumi/Koji. Some side characters appear.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Soooo... It seems I only write for greatly under appreciated fandoms nowadays.**

**If your a reader from my other active fic, From Here On In, then I AM going to finish it. It turns out I have Executive Functioning Disorder, which is why I've had such trouble finishing fics in the past, but I'm getting help for it, so look foreword to completed stories (Yay!). **

**Now, for the news about _this_ fic. It's based on the Cathexis music video 20XX Zetsuai. Youtube it : ). I've written most of it, but I'm posting it in small bits. Shamelessly, I'm hoping to get more reveiws this way ; ). With that said, enjoy and REVEIW. It's good for my ego.**

--

Izumi reached out with trembling fingers to brush aside the golden hair of his rapist, to look into that blood red mechanical eye. Fluid, tinted red from the dully-gleaming eye, trickled down the cyborg's face. A parody of human tears.

For a moment, Izumi imagined a crystal blue eye gazing longingly down at him.

Then it was gone and all he could see was the face of his Oppressor. The very reason his people fought. The tyrant who led the cyborgs and ArtiHumans, who persecuted those who practiced the old ways.

Hatred seethed in Izumi's veins. He looked away from that blood red eye, letting his hand fall limply to the cold, rough ground.

"Izumi…" The whisper was low, filled with an almost yearning. An involuntary reaction, Izumi looked up at hearing his name.

The dictator was smiling softly down at him. For a fleeting second, Izumi thought of a disciple worshiping his Deity. He recognized the look. It had been directed towards him once before… Hadn't it?

"How do you know that name?" he managed to feebly choke out. His throat felt constricted. He idly realized they were his first words to the cyborg.

"The same way you know mine, the same reason you ran from me," the dictator said softly, sadly, dropping his head to nuzzle along the length of Izumi's bared neck.

This cryptic response immediately brought the flash Izumi had seen during their fight to his mind. A man of flesh and blood reaching out for him, calling his name desperately. It was a remnant memory of a past life.

"K-koji," Izumi whispered. The cyborg froze, his cold nose pressed to Izumi's nape. Koji drew back slowly, watching the exposed rebel carefully. Izumi made eye contact with the one visible, human eye Koji had beneath his curtain of blond hair.

Something darted across Koji's face and, a decision apparently having been made, he withdrew from where he had been spread out over Izumi's body. Rising to his knees, Koji adjusted his garments automatically, keeping his eyes locked on Izumi the entire time.

Izumi hastened to pull what was left of his uniform to him. There wasn't much to salvage. His muscles tensed in anticipation. He was still in arms length of Koji, but he might be able to make a run for it, if he caught the cyborg unawares…

The opportunity, however, never presented itself. Koji remained leaning over Izumi, his unnatural gaze intent while he dressed.

Finished, Koji surprised the half clothed rebel by scooping him up into impossibly strong arms.

Izumi's reaction was to immediately start struggling. Using the only weapons he had, he dug nails into the remaining soft, human parts of Koji. His shoulder, cheek, the bicep of one arm… Izumi even attempted to gouge out the unwavering blue eye only to be shifted so his arms were restrained as he was crushed against his captor's broad chest.

He ceased struggling. For all his effort, he might as well have been a fly buzzing about the cyborg's head. Instead he settled on glaring, the hate he felt conveyed starkly in his dark eyes.

Koji, who had been looking ahead, froze when he glanced down and caught that intense, unclouded gaze. The tyrant's breath stopped. He seemed to be incapable of speech or movement under the power of Izumi's spiteful glare.

Izumi resumed wriggling furiously in the embrace, hoping to break the hold while Koji was distracted. This had the opposite effect of brining Koji out of his trance. With increased speed, the cyborg headed toward Central, the capitol of his engineered empire, leaping from dilapidated house to house with the ease of stepping over a puddle.

**TBC...**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Back again. I know. That was quick, but as these segments are so short, I'm going to post them pretty quickly. I hope the one person who's visited this story is enjoying it : ). **

--

Izumi'd been expecting a prison, so he was surprised when the little drones that passed as servants led him to a palatial, almost exorbitant, suite. He was mildly impressed. He hadn't thought cyborgs and ArtiHumans capable of creating, or even appreciating, such beauty of design.

The walls were white and smooth. Some off-planet stone, no doubt. The floor was recognizably marble. The two mirrors framing the entranceway were gilt and the living area was decked with old-century furniture. Likely antiques.

Moving into the living area, he could see a door that led to an equally luxurious bedroom with a bathroom so artistically ornate that he was torn between laughter at the exaggerated opulence and awe.

He jumped when an attendant appeared behind him in the marble-coated washroom. He wouldn't have known it was even there if he hadn't seen the reflection in the bathroom mirror.

The attendant looked human, almost flawlessly so, but Izumi knew better. No human would willingly serve, or be trusted to serve, a cyborg. This was an ArtiHuman, one of the genetically engineered creatures that comprised the majority of Koji's kingdom. It was rumored that their hearts were made of metal.

"Would sir like a bath?" the thing asked him in a lilting voice. Izumi stared blankly at it. He was used to shooting ArtiHumans, not being attended by them.

"I'll handle it myself. Go away!" Izumi hissed viciously.

He didn't want it anywhere near him. He didn't want to take a bath, though he knew he sorely needed one. He didn't want to accept any of this… this hospitality. He wanted to be treated the way any self-respecting son of The Cause would when captured by the enemy. Instead he was being treated like… like a guest!

The attendant bowed and backed out of the room. Izumi didn't move until he heard the door shut and the click of the lock sliding softly into place.

He turned toward the spotless, porcelain tub. A proper bath. One he hadn't seen the likes of in ages… Not since his early childhood, at least.

Giving into this one temptation, he turned on the tap and started to undress, or at least peel away the remaining scraps of fabric.

It wasn't any affront on his pride to take a bath, he told himself.

He sank into the hot water, his sore muscles feeling instant relief. There were bottles lined along the side of the tub. He didn't bother with any of them. He did however pick up the bar of what must be soap and began scrubbing away at the grit.

He ran the bar over his face, wincing as the suds sank into the cut along his cheek. He dropped the soap bar, raising the fingers of his other hand to trace along the scabbing line. He remembered the sword slicing into his cheek. He wondered if it would scar.

Quite suddenly, he laughed. It wasn't mirthful or joyous, but he simply found the idea of Koji scaring him funny in some capacity. Perhaps it was more ironic… Though he couldn't understand why.

Izumi dunked his head under the water.

Slightly more relaxed and feeling cleaner than he had in ages, Izumi stepped from the bathroom, toweling his hair with one of the large fluffy towels. He wondered if cyborgs ever took baths or if the bathrooms were just intended for off-planet guests…?

Clothing had been laid out for him. Izumi picked up the garments, giving them a cursory glance before pulling them on. A white shirt, soft like silk and form fitting like a sweater, and a pair of white pants that strongly resembled the ones he'd worn as part of his uniform. No socks or shoes were provided.

Izumi felt distinctly like he was in the wrong skin. Everything was unfamiliar. His clothes, his location, his body…

He shuddered. A memory of not two hours ago escaped into his thoughts. He felt oddly cold where Koji had touched him. Strong hands that had been so violent, trembling as they touched him.

'You're mine.'

Koji's parting words to him rattled around his skull. They'd been delivered to him just outside his new quarters. Outwardly forceful, yet he could still hear the desperation ringing in that voice. It was giving him shivers.

He shoved the sensation firmly away from his consciousness. He would not be weak. He would not be self-pitying. He would remain alert and ready, waiting for his chance to escape.

--

**TBC...**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Four hits in as many days! I actually feel pretty good, considering I'm the first person to post in this fandom in almost two years : ). Zetsuai must be too old school for all those new-fangled shounen-ai fans *sigh*. No reviews yet. Hey! You! Yeah, one of the few people reading this! Have mercy and post a line for me. Please : D. **

**--  
**

He'd had only an hour or so to himself, pondering both how to escape from the very heart of the cyborg empire and, most annoyingly, that dream-like recollection of a past life.

Had they been lovers, Koji and him? He could remember being pursued by a human, a flesh and blood Koji, but nothing else.

He was grasping, frustrated, for more details when the lock turned in the main door, and the beautifully carved surface swung in to reveal the very individual Izumi had been pondering.

Koji closed the door behind him. He didn't lock it. Izumi stood little chance against him physically, as had been made evident by their duel and the resulting intimate encounter.

Izumi sat stiffly in the antique armchair. He glared at his captor, resolute and unyielding. Koji didn't seem to mind, or was simply incapable of staying away, and moved steadily toward him.

"Izumi," Koji muttered in that needing, imploring way of his. Izumi continued to glare, refusing to respond.

Koji continued advancing until his legs were almost touching Izumi's bended knees. There the cyborg hesitated, raising a long-fingered gloved hand, as if asking permission to touch his captive.

Izumi found it aggravating that he would stop to ask permission now after his earlier actions.

Izumi refused to look away, and found that he couldn't move, paralyzed by Koji's questioning stare. He neither invited nor rejected Koji's offered hand. Perhaps he was acquiescing, or perhaps he was just being apathetic.

Seemingly unable to wait any longer, Koji's fingers reached out to trail softly along Izumi's jaw line. They gripped his chin gently and tilted his face up. Izumi's captor sank gracefully to his knees to be on eye level with the beautiful, angry rebel.

Koji's fingers were now brushing along Izumi's cheek, his face upturned, his one human eye glistening as it traveled across the contours of Izumi's face.

"Izumi," Koji repeated. His gaze dropped. He leaned forward, wrapping his arms loosely around Izumi's waist and laying his head in the rebel's lap. "I'm so sorry, Izumi," he said, his voice wavering in the intensity of his emotion. "I'm sorry. Forgive me."

Izumi stared down at the cyborg that softly cried into his lap.

"Don't cry, Izumi."

Izumi looked at the wall, rather than watch Koji.

"Idiot. I'm not the one crying."

--

Izumi gazed out his window at the machine-made city. It glistened like a many-faceted emerald under the bright sun. The buildings were tall, streamlined, and like highly polished steel. Cyborgs and Artihumans went about their business on the streets below. It almost looked like one of the old human cities.

Except humans, on this planet at least, didn't live in cities anymore. They lived huddled together in camps, taking shelter among the ruins of the old world. Anyone who sought to live by the old ways, without genetic or mechanical modification, giving birth to natural children, was denied the privilege of living in the shiny machine city.

It had been Koji's predecessor, an earlier model, that had exiled the humans and started the war. It was Izumi's fondest wish to see the gem-like city destroyed, it's rulers cast out.

He wanted the war over. For Serika and Yugo, so they wouldn't have to grow up fighting as he had.

He heard familiar, heavy footsteps behind him. He knew instantly who's they were. Only one person ever approached him with such trepidation. Koji had acted almost frightened of Izumi the past few days, but still he came hourly to the rebel's side like a magnet drawn to it's reverse pole.

Izumi didn't turn to greet him. Instead he continued staring fixedly out the window at the city far below. He felt sickeningly like a princess confined to a tall tower.

The footsteps stopped. There was a hesitation where Izumi knew Koji was debating whether to touch him or not.

Since that day, the day he'd been brought to Central, Koji had barely laid a finger on him. He always looked somewhere between panic stricken and unbearably remorseful every time Izumi flinched away from him.

A long-fingered hand lightly touched Izumi's jaw and trailed down the length of his neck, cupping around it in a way more loving than threatening. Izumi did not wince at the contact. He was getting better about physical contact with Koji.

"Izumi," that begging voice whispered. Izumi couldn't ignore him any longer. He turned from the window. The fingers at his neck loosened to allow the movement.

"You're sulking," Koji accused after a hushed moment.

Izumi's brow furrowed. He wanted to retort, disagree with Koji in some way, but a realization stayed his lips. Koji was right. Izumi was sulking. And after he'd sworn not to be self-pitying, too…

"I guess," Izumi replied listlessly.

Koji's brow furrowed. Rather than abating the concerned look on Koji's face, this reply seemed to intensify it. The fingers at his neck dropped to his shoulders, grasping at the white cloth there.

"Aren't you angry?" Koji asked, almost pleading. Izumi looked at him quizzically. Did he want Izumi to argue with him?

"No. You're right. I was sulking," Izumi clarified. Koji's face fell, the fingers at Izumi's shoulders tightening.

There was a long period of silence. Izumi couldn't bring himself to look out the window again. He kept his gaze on Koji, his agitation mounting with each passing moment. What did the cyborg want from him?

He was quite shocked when this very question was directed back at him.

"Izumi, what do you want?"

The dumbfounded rebel stared, wide eyed, at his captor. When he did not reply, Koji elaborated, his tone growing almost desperate.

"I'll give it to you. Whatever you want. Won't you tell me?"

Izumi watched him shrewdly. He wondered whether this was a serious question. He looked resolutely out the window. Only this time he wasn't looking at the city, but beyond it.

"I want to be let go," he announced. His eyes slid from the horizon back to Koji's frozen face. "Set me free," he said.

Koji hesitated, then nodded.

"I will. Once the war is over," he qualified. This time Izumi was angry. His temper flared and he snapped his reply back.

"I meant now! It's not worth it if it's after the war. They need me out there!" He flung an arm out toward the window. "Serika and Yugo need me!" he lashed.

Koji, who was so prone to staring at Izumi the way a scorned puppy would its master, looked unusually stony and resolute as Izumi shouted at him.

"I can't let you go fight. You'll be killed," Koji said, as if this dispelled any opposing argument Izumi could conjure. Izumi glared hotly back, feeling a renewed surge of loathing.

There was another prolonged silence. Izumi fumed silently, glaring anywhere but at Koji.

Suddenly and without warning, the dictator grabbed him and crushed him to his chest.

"I love you, Izumi," he muttered fervently. Izumi stiffened in his arms, his eyes opening wide as he listened to this new, latest madness. "I can't ever be without you. I won't. When the war is over, I'll abdicate. We'll go somewhere far away. I won't let anyone touch you."

Koji's whispered promises came out in a stream.

And all Izumi could do was listen in shocked silence.

--

**TBC...**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - Still no reviews! Shame on ya'll! Well, this is the next chapter. Please : ) tell me what you think!**

**--  
**

They were dueling, swords clashing together, stepping in time to each other's movements. It was almost like dancing.

Izumi loved it. The exertion, the intensity. He could loose himself in it for hours and, contradictory to what that first night had suggested, he and Koji were pretty evenly matched.

Koji just seemed elated he had found something that made Izumi happy. He would spend hours practicing with his fierce-eyed captive, to the seeming dereliction of all his other duties as dictator of the machine empire.

When Izumi had asked how all their time together was affecting the empire, Koji had just smiled. He'd admitted to being a devoted leader and tactician before Izumi had appeared.

'But now, you're more important to me than anything. The entire city could fall and I wouldn't care,' he'd said matter-of-factly. Izumi had stared at him incredulously and then spent the better part of the following hour avoiding direct eye contact.

Their swords crossed again with a metallic clang. They called out almost friendly jibes and taunts to each other as they moved.

Izumi was sweating in his workout clothes, a pair of slacks and a loose, short-sleeved shirt. Apparently, machines liked their environments on the cool side, encouraging Izumi to wear as much clothing as possible when indoors.

"Point," Izumi breathed, a wide smile on his face as his blunted rapier tip pressed into Koji's chest, right above where his heart was, or would be, if cyborgs had the same organs as humans.

Koji smiled up at Izumi from where he was kneeling on the floor, having been tripped by Izumi just before the rebel struck.

"Your round," Koji conceded, ridiculously happy for someone who'd just lost.

He rose smoothly to his feet.

Izumi narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Koji. If he thought for one moment that Koji was throwing the matches… The man was half-machine, after all. Shouldn't he be stronger than a flesh and blood human?

He was about to voice his concerns on this matter when a green-uniformed cyborg appeared in the doorway of the sparring room. He did not glance at Izumi. Most of the upper-level cyborgs in Central preferred to pretend that Koji's new 'pet' simply didn't exist. Koji, fearful of Izumi receiving negative attention, encouraged this behavior.

"What is it?" Koji asked imperiously. It was fascinating to Izumi how the ruler's attitude differed from when he was talking to his subjects and when he was speaking to Izumi. It was almost like he was a different person… er, cyborg.

The new cyborg bowed.

"The humans, my Lord," he started, still not looking at Izumi. "There's been an attack on the New-Oita industrial zone. We've received reports of an entire oil storehouse on fire," he added.

Izumi's eyes flew to the genuflecting cyborg.

Storehouses could be miles long, filled with barrel after barrel of precious oil and plane fuel. Notoriously hard to break into due to their value. If the rebel's had indeed destroyed the stores, even one store, it was a great victory. Izumi felt a surge of pride. He realized he was smiling.

Koji didn't seem pleased, but he didn't look particularly distressed either.

"Seal off the other storehouses. Code Five authorization. Keep a look out for stragglers. They're not above suicide missions," he rattled off. The cyborg straightened up from his bow, nodded, and backed out of the room. Koji turned back to Izumi.

And stopped mid turn.

Any trace of smile was gone from the bronze face. Izumi was glaring at him with all the hate and loathing of the world reflected in his dark eyes. It seemed the interaction between master and servant had reminded Izumi of just who he had been grinning and having fun with not five minutes before.

"Izumi…" The rebel cast down the sword and made to storm from the room.

"Izumi, wait!" Koji's arm caught him around the middle. Izumi whirled on him, pulling back his fist and letting it fly at Koji's face. Koji caught it easily with his other hand, firmly lowering the trembling fist until it was lying restrained back at its owner's side.

"Let me go, you _thing_. You've no right to touch me," Izumi snapped pitilessly. It worked. Koji instantly released Izumi, who turned and fled the room.

--

**TBC...**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - Still no reviews. The world is cruel. The young often untimely die. Sorry. My puppy died two days ago. I don't mean to depress you all going into my story, but if you could keep her in your prayers, I'd appreciate it. **

**--  
**

Izumi wasn't asleep. He was curled up against his pillow staring into the inky black of his lavish room. He could make out an edge of the bedside table in the gloom.

He'd been thinking about home again. About the struggle his people had been enduring. He wanted to see his little brother and sister.

He was so lost in thought he didn't hear the door, no longer locked during the day and night, open and close. He didn't even realize he wasn't alone until he heard the muffled footsteps on the plush carpet of his bedroom.

Izumi raised himself up on one elbow, squinting into the dark, trying to make out the intruder. The figure froze. The broad shouldered form simply stood in the dark for a moment before speaking.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were awake," Koji's voice said softly, as if he were afraid of disturbing someone.

He must have brushed aside his hair, because his red mechanical eye was suddenly visible, casting a red tint on the contours of Koji's symmetrical face.

"Do you sneak into my room often?" Izumi asked coolly. He was still resentful of Koji and, to some degree, himself. He couldn't believe he'd nearly forgotten who Koji was. What he was…

There was a second pause.

"Yes," came the reply. At least Koji never lied to him.

Izumi mentally shuddered at the thought. Koji never lied to him. He'd seemed to mean it, to need Izumi to know he meant it, every time he professed love.

It scared Izumi. The unwavering attention. The constant whispers. The devoted touches. It made Izumi want to hide afraid of the other shoe to dropping.

Izumi sat up fully, his hands resting palm down on either side of his legs.

"What do you want?"

"You," were the first words out of Koji's mouth. It seemed an almost instinctual response. Izumi repressed a shudder.

"I mean, to talk to you," Koji corrected hastily. It was hard to tell because of the red tint, but his human cheek might have been blushing.

Koji took a few steps foreword and, after a moment's indecision, sunk onto the edge of Izumi's bed. Izumi felt the mattress dip by his feet.

Izumi refused to speak first. If Koji had something to say, he wasn't getting any help from Izumi.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't want to upset you, earlier." He paused, as if trying to gauge Izumi's reaction to these words. Izumi remained spitefully silent.

"Do you want me to surrender Central?" Koji asked all at once.

Izumi jerked as if an electric current had passed through his body. His eyes were wide in the dark, his pupils dilated and fixed unwaveringly on that red-tinted face.

"I will. If you want me to. It doesn't mean anything to me. It's just a job. If I can be with you, I don't care--"

"_Stop!_" Koji fell abruptly and deafeningly silent.

The only sounds in the room was Izumi's rapid breathing and Koji's quieter, more subdued inhales.

"Why do you say things like that to me?" Izumi asked, his voice wavering as his body trembled.

Koji launched himself across the bed, crawling until he was close enough to pull Izumi to his chest, nestling the smaller man between his long legs. His finger stroked across Izumi's neck.

"I love you, Izumi. I love you." It was all Koji seemed willing to say.

Izumi let his headrest against Koji's chest. He noted absently that the dictator wasn't wearing his usual cape and uniform. Sleepwear, perhaps. Did cyborgs sleep?

Koji's fingers continued to ghost along Izumi's body, caressing, loving. Izumi closed his eyes and pressed his face into Koji's chest. He inhaled, expecting a metallic sent. He was surprised that there was something organic to the way Koji smelled.

Izumi allowed himself a small smile.

"I… don't mind this," he said, his voice slightly muffled by the clothing covering Koji's chest.

Koji inhaled sharply. Izumi could feel it in the way his broad chest expanded. The arms around Izumi constricted and the fingers trailing around his shoulder blades stuttered to a halt.

Before Izumi knew what was happening, Koji had hold of his chin and had sealed Izumi's mouth with his own.

The kiss was desperate, urging. Koji's lips moved over Izumi's frantically, pulling softly on his lower lip in one moment and nipping lovingly at the corner of his mouth in the next.

A tongue ran across Izumi's teeth, begging entrance. Izumi parted his lips without resistance, only responding when Koji's tongue demanded it.

Koji began to guide Izumi to lie down on the bed. Izumi went without complaint. He felt overwhelmed.

Izumi's lips felt suddenly cold as Koji drew back. His hands still held Izumi beneath him.

"I'm sorry. I can't… Let me…"

There was nothing Izumi could think to say to this plea.

As Koji began pushing up the hem of Izumi's shirt, Izumi lay slack, surrendering his body.

--

Izumi let out a throaty moan, riding the last waves of climax. Koji arrived at his peak almost immediately after.

"Takuto…!"

Koji slumped against him, the full weight of his body on the sated rebel's back. Neither seemed to mind and there was a moment of pronounced breathing before Koji lifted himself up onto his forearms, carefully sliding out of the body beneath him. Izumi shuddered at the sensation of loss and rolled over to look up at Koji.

Koji bent down to kiss Izumi's collarbone… His neck… His jaw… His lips…

"I love you, Izumi," he whispered, drawing back slightly so his words ghosted across Izumi's swollen lips. Izumi rolled his head to the side, staring into the dark, refusing to answer.

The rain of soft kisses on Izumi's bared neck resumed. Izumi sighed at the feeling, closing his eyes and let his captor tilt his head further back.

Koji paused.

"Do you want me to surrender?" he asked again, gently.

It was a soap-bubble question, ready to destroy the content atmosphere at any moment. Izumi stared resolutely into the black and too afraid to answer.

--

**TBC...**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - LaLaLa. I keep posting even though no one loves me. **

**--  
**

Izumi closed his eyes as the wind swept through his hair, inhaling the morning air. He folded his arms, separating the back of his head from the cold stone bench. He smiled. He could feel sunlight on his face.

The rooftop garden was quickly becoming one of Izumi's favorite places. It had grass, and plants, and just, well, life. Real organic life. It was a bit like home. Just a little bit.

He let his mind wander. What were Serika and Yugo doing? Had the resistance made any further progress? What was Koji doing?

That second thought sent a zap of irritation through him.

What _was_ Koji doing?

The dictator had been with him almost the entire morning until another rather grumpy looking cyborg had come to get him. Koji had smiled apologetically, touched Izumi's hand in the most affectionate gesture he would dare in front of his subjects, and left.

It occurred to Izumi that he had no idea what Koji did when he wasn't following him around. Not that he particularly cared, it was just that Koji was the only source of social contact Izumi had in his tower prison.

The natural assumption would be that Koji was attending to his dictatorial duties when he disappeared. Koji always seemed so cold when other cyborgs were present and he treated the ArtiHumans like second-class citizens, which, Izumi supposed, they were. It was a suspiciously Machiavellian system that relied entirely on other cyborgs being terrified of their outwardly cool leader.

When Izumi'd been with the rebels, they'd swapped stories about what a fiend the Oppressor was. Some were quite ridiculous, but had been believed out of fear and ignorance. No human had ever been within ten feet of the cyborg ruler and lived, with the obvious exception of Izumi who had been very close to Koji and was quite physically well.

That dispelled the first rumor. Koji killed all his prisoners.

False.

He was a vicious, merciless tyrant.

Maybe true. Izumi had the distinct feeling that Koji didn't treat others the same way he treated Izumi.

He raped and pillaged.

True, Izumi thought savagely. The 'Izumi's Different Theory' didn't seem to extend to this particular rumor.

He had human skins lining his bed.

Izumi pondered this one. He'd never actually seen Koji's room. Koji always came to him. For all he knew, Koji mounted human heads on his bedroom wall. Still, from what he'd come to learn about Koji's sense of style, it was probably false.

He had a harem of beautiful ArtiHumans.

This wasn't one of the more vicious stories, but it instantly sent a fresh lance of aggravation through Izumi.

The letch probably did have a harem. After all, he had to have done something with himself before he decided to pick on Izumi. Izumi scowled, rolling up from the bench and swinging his legs around to sit.

He hunched his shoulders in the now shallow feeling sunshine.

Izumi had the sudden impulse to track down Koji. It wasn't a generous or amiable feeling. In fact, Izumi felt a most sensational desire to deal out some physical violence. He, after all, hated cyborgs in general and should start acting like it.

He'd only been toying with the idea, so he was surprised to find himself already on his feet and wending his way down the stairs leading from the roof.

His bare feet let him move almost noiselessly through the upper floors of the tower. Not that anyone cared where he went or what he did, excepting Koji.

He'd come to be familiar with the top three floors. To go down to the lower floors, which were nearer to the ground and possible escape, he needed a keycard and access number, which he didn't have and wasn't likely to ever get.

Still, he knew there was a room for assemblies on the second-to-the-top floor, the level above his bedroom's floor. He'd walked past it before, but had never gone in. It'd never interested him.

Koji'd once told him to come there if he ever needed anything immediately. This was operating under the assumption that Koji would leave him alone long enough for Izumi to need anything immediately. And assuming Izumi was desperate enough to actually ask Koji for something.

Now, he found himself walking towards it without hesitation.

He passed cyborgs and ArtiHumans as he strode through the corridors. He was treated like a not particularly cute stray cat that everyone knew was there, but generally ignored. No one stopped him. No one questioned him. He was, indeed, hardly acknowledged at all.

This suited Izumi just fine. He was unhampered and soon found himself staring at the door leading to the audience chamber.

The doors were metal and stark, like the rest of the building. The only places with any character were Izumi's room and the vastly unpopular and frequently deserted rooftop garden. A button to the side of the door would open it, but Izumi ignored it. He was peering furtively in through the small rectangular window.

The room was dark and rather forbidding. It was packed with cyborgs, but he had no clear view of Koji and he wasn't keen on waltzing in and making a spectacle of himself. He wasn't even sure why he'd come anymore. Was he angry or curious?

His eye roamed the room and lighted on a rather fortuitous structure. There was a ugly, metal balcony overlooking the entire room. There were dark red curtains hanging on one side and it was, better yet, completely deserted. He could watch unnoticed from above.

Izumi retraced his steps back up to the top floor and continued until he reckoned he was standing roughly overhead the assembly room.

Sure enough, there was a second metal door, equally as bland as the main one except smaller, that opened on to the balcony.

This time Izumi did press the button. The door opened with a gentle hiss, drowned out by the sound f talking from the gathering, and Izumi crept out onto the chilly marble surface unobserved. He walked right up to the edge of the curtain and looked out.

Dozens of cyborgs seemed to be packed into the room. They were all sitting on long rows of benches facing away from Izumi, except for one.

Koji was sitting at the head of the space on, predictably, a throne. Behind him, the entire wall was devoted to square video screens, all displaying the symbol of the cyborgs. A grey rod set in a perfect triangle. It was an impossibly dull design.

Izumi squinted, worried he might be seen in the screens reflection. It was this intent scrutiny that made him realized the screens weren't made of glass. Instead of reflecting light and consequently images, the surface absorbed light while simultaneously projecting it's own vividly lit image. Unless someone turned around, Izumi was safe from notice.

His attention was recaptured by Koji's voice. Izumi's eyes latched onto the stoic figure at the far end of the room.

Koji's face was absolutely blank. He didn't look bored. He didn't look distracted. He didn't look irritated. He looked like a perfect, dead doll. His one red eye gleamed out at the gathered cyborgs. Koji resembled, for the first time in Izumi's recollection, a machine. Calculating, indifferent, and very cold.

Koji finished speaking. One of the cyborgs in the second row stood up to address the next issue. Apparently Koji's word was the end of the discussion.

It seemed like business as usual, they were talking about fiscal allotments for the expansion of commercial districts. Izumi was about to leave, curiosity sated and anger repressed, when the door Izumi had previously peered through slid open. A stunningly beautiful ArtiHuman glided in like she owned the place.

She made her way unchallenged to the head of the room. Only a few cyborgs looked her way before leisurely returning to their reports. The ArtiHuman swept up to the throne, sank elegantly to the ground at Koji's feet, and laid her head on his knee.

Izumi, who had been tetchy to start, was immediately livid.

His mood was not tempered by the fact that Koji, without even glancing at the girl, laid a porcelain white hand on her head of thick brown hair. His expression did not change, something that Izumi probably noted, somewhere, beneath the boiling sensation.

He turned to flee the room, his foot catching on the edge of the curtain and rustling it. He didn't even care. He was immediately of the opinion that all the rumors he'd ever heard about humanity's Oppressor were true.

He was vehemently repeating this to himself when he turned to go down the stairs and walked headlong into Koji.

Izumi stared, bemused, up at the blond half-human. He'd been positive Koji had been in the meeting room not a minute ago. Had he noticed Izumi and sprinted out of the audience chamber? Or was it a highly unlikely coincidence? It was then he registered the look on Koji's face.

His human eye wide and searching, Koji was examining Izumi with a most peculiar expression. Izumi couldn't tell if it was fearful or pleased. Neither were emotions he'd expect, having been caught someplace he wasn't exactly supposed to be.

"Izumi, are you alright?" The words burst from Koji's lips.

The sound of his voice prodded at the hot coals burning in Izumi's chest. Izumi scowled and made to brush past him.

"Fine," he snapped. He started down the stairs. Koji whirled around, cape trailing behind him, to follow.

"You were watching me…" The words were wondering now and perhaps a little giddy. Hadn't he been speaking in a monotone before? Why was Koji so different with him? It was infuriating!

"Sorry to intrude." Izumi's anger was mounting.

"Why are you angry?"

"I'm not."

"I saw you on the balcony."

They were down the next flight of stairs, on Izumi's floor.

"Listen," Izumi cut in, rounding on Koji. "Why don't you go back to your meeting and your overgrown house cat," he snarled.

Koji looked downright puzzled. His face held such an array of emotions. Izumi again had trouble reconciling this doting idiot with the cold tyrant in the assembly room.

Koji had inevitably figured out what Izumi meant because a comprehension dawned on his face. This was immediately proceeded by a look of utter devastation. The cyborg was acting as if Izumi had slapped him.

"You're jealous," he muttered, trembling. It was a guess Koji feared too good to be true. Izumi ground his teeth, affronted by the very suggestion.

"I'm not. I just can't stand ArtiHumans. They're disgusting." He turned to enter his room and was stopped by Koji's hand catching his arm in a powerful, painful grip.

"Don't play with me like this," Koji said, as if Izumi were enjoying a particularly cruel. He sounded threatening. Izumi took an instinctive step back, but was prevented from going very far by the steel grip on his arm.

"What are you talking about? Let go!" Izumi yanked at his arm, to no avail. The last time he'd seen Koji like this had been during their first encounter. Izumi stopped trying to free himself.

"You… haven't forgotten, have you? That I love you." Koji's voice was low and dangerously soft.

This was apparently not what Izumi wanted to hear.

"Hard to tell when you've got a girl sprawled across your lap." The last word was expelled in a rush of air as Izumi was slammed into the thankfully soft wood of the door behind him. Koji had him pinned to the door with one hand still on his arm and the other by his face.

These mood swings were dizzying.

"I haven't touched her."

"Didn't look like it."

Koji became very still.

"I have to keep up appearances Izumi."

"Sure you do!"

"I have to because of you!" Koji shouted. Izumi flinched at the noise.

"If any one, any one, here thinks I favor you, for an instant, that puts you in danger. Even more than being on the battlefield," Koji explained desperately, voice rising. "I don't just have enemies outside Central. I have them within as well and if some one finds out what you are… I couldn't bear it if something happened to you."

His hand on Izumi's shoulder spazamed and then stilled.

"I haven't been with anyone for the past two weeks except you," he said, his human eye boring intently into Izumi's. For a moment, Izumi thought the cyborg was crying. But when he blinked, Koji's eyes were bone dry. There was a silence where the two stared at each other.

Suddenly, Koji released Izumi and stepped away.

"You can't say things like that to me. It'll get my hopes up." With that, he turned and marched back along the corridor, leaving Izumi leaning heavily against the wood doors.

--

**TBC...**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N - How borrrring. I post but no one loves me enough to review : (. **

**--  
**

Koji was a bit wild in bed.

He started out gently, as if handling something spun from glass, but with each passing touch, each intimate moment, he progressively lost his composure. His movements became frenetic. Needy. He grew rough in his desire to taste every last bit of his human partner. The frenzy of it all grew and grew until Izumi was screaming beneath him.

And, when it was over, he returned instantly to the gentle lover. As if Izumi had adapted the physicality of spun sugar.

They had a tacit agreement that as long as Koji could take Izumi, nothing more would be expected. It was not a deal built to last, but it had served for the entire two weeks of Izumi's imprisonment.

That night, with each frantic, whispered 'I love you' came a pause, a held breath, where an answer was awaited. And with every pause came a resounding disappointment. For there was no reply given.

"Izumi?"

"Hm?"

Izumi craned his neck slightly from where he was curled against Koji's hard chest. The white arm around his waist constricted, drawing him in until he was flush with the cyborg's body.

Izumi ran a hand absently over the synthetic skin. Skin he knew covered sophisticated mechanics and circuitry the likes that humanity had only ever dreamed of.

"I didn't hurt you?" It was a routine question.

"I'm fine." A routine answer. Izumi continued running his hand, almost absently, along the skin of Koji's side.

"Izumi?" Izumi didn't reply or stop trailing his fingers. Koji knew he was listening.

"Don't you think that… someday… you might love me?"

The long, bronze fingers stopped mid-journey.

Izumi raised wide, startled eyes to Koji's anxious face. There was such a pronounced melancholy reflected in that single blue eye that he couldn't stand to look long. He moved to curl away from Koji and Koji let him.

Izumi sat up, the thick duvet crumpling to his waist.

He was more than shocked. For one, he hadn't been expecting the question and, secondly, he was amazed Koji had dared ask.

Koji raised himself up on one elbow, staring wordlessly after Izumi, his blond hair pooling over his white chest.

"I want to be let go." They both knew what Izumi meant.

Koji reached out for his love, pulling Izumi back as he leaned foreword until he had the lean rebel in his arms. Koji's hair was covering them both, settling against Izumi's shoulder in a strangely contrasting way. The cool white forehead was pressed against the crook of Izumi's neck.

"I can't. Even if you leave here, I'll go with you." Izumi closed his eyes and reopened them slowly, staring at the canopy over the bed. It was a familiar diatribe.

"Even if I hate you?"

Koji shuddered violently. The arms around Izumi tightened painfully.

"The only way you'll ever be able to get rid of me is if you kill me. Death is the only way I'll ever leave you." Koji said.

Izumi was still for half a heartbeat before he started trembling as if hypothermic. There was a wild, frightened look in his clear eyes.

"Why would you say something like that?" Izumi demanded, voice wavering on every other word. His hand flew to his hip, curiously clutching at it as if pained.

Koji was frozen on the bed, afraid to move lest he antagonize his already distressed lover. He stared at Izumi's hand where it was covering his hip. Koji had asked about the scar before, eager to know everything about his captive, but Izumi had always refused to answer. Koji had assumed it was a battle wound…

"You're so selfish! I can't understand you!" Izumi said, his voice rising as his trembling increased to the point where Koji feared he was having a fit.

Koji hurried to turn Izumi so that they were facing. He kept a grip on each of Izumi's shoulders, afraid to let go.

"It's okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Izumi. I… I didn't mean it," he said, grasping for any words that would calm the near hysterical boy in his arms.

Izumi seemed to be regaining some control over himself. He had dramatically stopped shivering. His face seemed calmer, although a little angry. The ire was self-directed. He shook off Koji's hands and turned to leave, snatching up his pajama bottoms as he went.

Koji grabbed Izumi's wrist, effectively stopping him. Koji, still holding that slim wrist, slid off the bed.

"Wait. I'll go," he offered, slowly uncurling his fingers. Koji pulled his black uniform pants on and collected the rest of his clothes. "I'm sorry," he repeated once more. He turned and left quietly.

--

**TBC...**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - Is the story that bad : ( ...? Srsly. Eight, albeit short, chapters and not one review. Maybe I'm just doing a really bad job...**

--

"Koji?"

Izumi sat up from where he'd been stretched out beneath the sun on his favorite stone bench. The garden was generally unpopular, so Izumi frequently had it to himself.

Koji hesitated in the entryway to the garden, a small structure that essentially housed the stairs leading to the roof. It was the same dull grey as the building, looking hopelessly modern in a haven of old-world nature.

Koji's vinyl-looking boots also sharply contrasted the springy green grass that damply adhered itself to sides of his boots. Izumi was probably the only creature in a hundred mile radius that would look at home in the greenery. With beige pants and a white shirt, bare foot, and sun-bronzed skin, he looked almost idyllic in the sunshine with trees and plants scattered around him

Koji looked unsure of himself, an unusual look for him, but one that was becoming increasingly familiar to Izumi.

"I wasn't sure if you'd want to see me," he admitted, taking a single reserved step into the gardens. The memory of the previous night still haunted him. He'd never seen Izumi upset like that before.

It was Izumi's turn to look uncomfortable. He was still experiencing some embarrassment over his reaction to Koji's ultimatum. The young rebel hurried to hide his unease with an ambivalent shrug.

"Who else am I supposed to talk to around here?" he drawled wryly. Koji was still, lingering in the doorway, inscrutably silent.

"Do you get lonely?" Koji asked quietly.

Izumi shrugged again, this time in genuine indifference.

"I wasn't really social to start with," he admitted. He shifted so his folded arms rested atop his raised knees. "I do miss Serika and Yugo, though." This was delivered wistfully. Izumi was gazing at the distant horizon beyond the glittering machine city.

"Serika?" Koji asked, at last moving foreword into the garden to join Izumi on the bench. A small frown adorned the handsome cyborg's face.

Izumi had to smile at the great dictators obvious jealousy.

"My sister," he clarified. He'd been sorely tempted to lie and string Koji on for a bit, but he'd decided the truth would be better in the long run. He didn't want to have a man hunt out for his little sister, he mused jokingly.

"Sister? A fetus from the same sperm and egg donors? The female one?" Koji asked with unabashed interest. The concept of blood relations was novel to the cyborg.

Izumi rolled his shoulders to hide his discomfort. He'd come to hate the little daily reminders that Koji wasn't human. Sometimes, despite all the blatant signs to the contrary, it was easy to forget about the metallic wiring that comprised half of Koji's body.

"Yeah. That's about it. It wasn't worth it to go into the subtle nuances of sibling bonds. It's just be painful, especially since Izumi was never going to see his ever again.

"And Yugo? You're 'brother'? A male?" Koji had apparently not noticed Izumi's rapidly souring mood. He'd yet to realize that his clinical and continued discussion of this topic was most unwelcome by his short-tempered love.

"Yes. Yugo. A male." Izumi was getting testy.

"I didn't realize your parents had had multiple humans in their brood. I hear it's such a messy, base process. It's difficult to imagine the motivation behind humans wanting to repeat the process. Particularly the females." Koji wrinkled his nose in distaste.

This was more than Izumi was willing to bear. He stood, making sure to jostle Koji as he went.

"Yeah? Well, that brood is all that's left of my family. I'm sorry were so base and disgusting."

Koji had immediately realized his error upon witnessing Izumi's reaction, but Izumi was already stalking away from the bench toward the ajar door Koji had come through. Koji jumped up to block Izumi's way.

"I'm sorry! I don't… know he terminology," Koji said, hoping to pacify Izumi and persuade him to stay a little longer. They seemed to be storming out on each other with increasing frequency. It seemed to be working. He was able to coax Izumi into sitting back down on the bench.

"Will you tell me about them?" If they were important to Izumi, Koji wanted to know all he could.

Izumi half-smiled. He was glad Koji was at least trying to curb his bias.

"Serika is fifteen. No, sixteen! She had a birthday nine days ago. I… I forgot...." This was not an auspicious opening to the conversation, as this fact seemed to deeply bother Izumi. He was silent for over a minute before he spoke again.

"I made her something, but it's back at home. Probably right where I left it…" Izumi shook his head sadly. "Um… Yugo's twelve. He looks just like dad did." Izumi took a bracing breath. "Our parents are dead. They died when I was seven. I took care of Serika and Yugo once I was old enough. They're probably at Mrs. Ozaki's now. She always takes in the families of MIA soldiers. Just until they're able to get their feet under them," Izumi explained, his countenance grim.

He'd thought right. Talking about Serika and Yugo was painful. Almost as much so as talking about his parents.

Koji appeared thunderstruck. He'd had no way of knowing Izumi had immediate family. Or anyone really who depended solely upon the young captain. What if Izumi had a woman waiting for him back at the camps as well? Koji resoundingly stomped this train of thought from his conscious.

"You miss them?" Koji had only recently become acquainted with the sensation of missing. It was something he experienced every second he wasn't by Izumi's side.

"All the time," Izumi replied. He looked back at the twilight horizon. Toward his home. The sun was setting in the sky.

Koji looked somehow sad. Izumi raised an eyebrow at the melancholy expression.

"Well, it's not like I'll ever see then again, is it?" Izumi said, a bit snappier than he'd originally intended.

Koji had the decency to look at least a little abashed.

They sat in the evening sunshine together. The smog from the city was threatening the golden rays with a premature twilight. The sunlight would dim and brighten periodically, like God was playing with the light switch.

The silence was broken abruptly by Izumi's shout.

"Oh!"

Koji physically started.

"What?" the cyborg asked slightly alarmed.

"You won't let me go. I need to see my family. So, we compromise." Izumi clearly thought he was onto something good. Koji, however, appeared all skepticism at these opening words.

"I'll go for two days. That's all I need. Then I'll come back. I won't be anywhere near one of the hot spots. Perfectly safe," Izumi beamed.

Koji did not look as enthusiastic about the 'compromise'.

"You won't come back," he accused morosely. He was growing colder, his expression severer. Izumi shot him a baleful stare.

"If I say I'll come back, I'll come back," Izumi countered through clenched teeth. He wasn't keen on having his integrity doubted. Koji didn't reply. Taking this as a positive sign, Izumi pressed on with his argument.

"I'll tell you where I'm going. Where my family is," Izumi tried. He liked this option the least. It put his family in direct and immediate danger, but it was the only collateral he had to offer.

"I'll go with you," Koji announced after a moments consideration. Izumi snorted loudly. He was stuck somewhere between being amused and incredulous. Koji wasn't really that dense ordinarily.

"You're the one who wont come back from that." Izumi had a small, entertained smile on his lips. He could picture Koji walking into camp with him. "The Oppressor himself strolling into a human stronghold alone. It'll be like Christmas. They'll tear you apart and sell your insides off as scrap metal." Izumi seemed to be enjoying the threat.

"My 'insides' are not made of metal," Koji corrected stiffly. "It's a bonded, auto-organic alloy." Koji was being belligerent.

He knew Izumi had an all too valid point. No one had ever drawn and quartered a cyborg, but he assumed the camp's inhabitants would be game for giving it a try…

"No, you can't go then," Koji commanded flintily. He was completely set in his resolution, and as someone used to getting his way, considered the matter closed. Still he expected Izumi to be upset and he was braced for his captive's anger.

He was therefore surprised when, instead of shouting, Izumi leaned in and tilted his beautiful face up so he was staring up at Koji through a messy tangle of dark-brown bangs. His full lips were slightly parted and the sun was glinting off his hair as if he'd planned it all in advance. It was safe to say he had Koji's undivided attention.

"Please, Koji? Let me go see my family," Izumi begged.

Koji was acting like he'd been struck and didn't know how to retaliate. A little addled, he reached up to cup Izumi's face, leaning in to brush his mouth against Izumi's.

"Takuto, don't… Please… I… You can go. For two days." Izumi smiled broadly, and a tad triumphantly. "I'll take you to the edge of the camp. Then you can go the rest of the way alone. We'll meet back up after two days." Whether Izumi's plea had been artful or earnest, it had worked thoroughly and he was getting his way.

"Thank you," Izumi said. He closed the distance between their lips. It was a thank you gift. The only one Izumi had to give. They both knew it was the first time Izumi had ever initiated a kiss.

Something wet and smelling faintly of salt landed on Izumi's left cheek.

Koji pulled away, breaking the contact for only a second.

Just long enough to say, "I love you, Izumi."

--

Koji had agreed, and they didn't speak of the arrangement again, but for the next three days leading up to their trip Koji managed to be constantly fretful and distracted. It was the most inattentive Izumi had ever seen him and, knowing its cause, Izumi thought Koji was overreacting.

He had difficulty understanding what Koji was so worried about.

The main fighting was going on in the opposite direction they were going to go. Plus, he and Koji were a fairly formidable force and Izumi knew the terrain better than just about anyone.

Also, he could hardly be considered a security risk. He'd yet to overhear valuable strategic information and everyone on the planet knew where Central Tower was located. Izumi had only ever seen the top three floors and the roof anyway.

What had Koji so concerned?

--

**TBC...**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N - Thank you, Stregian, for the review!! I'm really flattered and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the story : ).  
**

--

Izumi was idly spinning the sword in his hand, twisting his wrist and letting it go a couple of revolutions before catching it again. He was elated to be out of the Tower for the first time in over two weeks.

Seventeen days, he counted. It seemed so much longer than that…

The treat of getting out of the Tower was doubled by the fact that he was back in the old world section. Ruined buildings, skyscrapers lying on their sides, overturned cars. It was the playground he'd grown up on as a child and the armaments he'd used as a captain and soldier.

Koji had leant him the sword as a precaution. Izumi secretly thought this was egregiously stupid on Koji's part. Izumi, unlike his artificial lover, was not bullet resistant and a sword wasn't going to do him too much good in a combat situation. It was like the old saying. Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.

Hell would freeze over before Izumi brought this to Koji's attention, though. He was too elated about going home and being in possession of a non-blunted weapon to say anything to jeopardize it. He'd have been happy if he'd been allowed a sharp can-opener. He didn't even know where the kitchens in Central were to steal a knife.

Izumi was animatedly endeavoring to explain soccer to the cyborg. They'd covered the basics at the beginning of the afternoon and, as the sun began it's decent, they moved on to Izumi's personal experiences.

"It was the game of my life. Kunihide was the only one in three camps who could block my shots," he grinned at the memory. "But it was my dad that taught me how to play." Izumi's grin faded a little, but then came back to its full force. "He was a great player. Really good. When I was little we'd play for hours. Of course, I couldn't play as often once combat training started. I still found time for the odd game, though. Breaks, lunch hour... Times like that."

Izumi clambered over a fallen telephone pole. Almost the entire journey had been on foot. It was the only way to access the human camps, hidden so carefully amongst the rubble of a fallen civilization. They'd taken a car out of the Tower, and then ditched it once they'd reached the edge of Central to start into the seven-hour walk.

When Koji had expressed his surprise at the camp being so close to the machine city, Izumi had smiled, but kept his lips firmly shut. He was placing absolute trust in Koji, his enemy on all accounts, by leading him straight to one of the coveted camps.

"More fun than fencing?" Koji asked teasingly. Izumi already spent so much time in the practice room, Koji didn't think there was anything Izumi could be more obsessive about. He thought wrong.

"By far! In an ideal world, it's all I'd do all day." Izumi tossed the sword up, catching it perfectly by the handle as it sung dangerously down. He gave it a flick and then sheathed it.

"I'm glad we don't have it in Central," Koji said, his tone slightly sulky.

Izumi sent him a startled, offended glance.

"Why not?"

"I'd never see you again." Koji said, straight-faced and serious. Izumi sighed and shook his head.

"Jealous," Izumi quipped.

"Deeply." A hand snaked around Izumi's waist and pulled him backward into the cyborg's broad chest. Izumi looked up warily only to have his suspicions confirmed when Koji cupped his jaw and leaned down to kiss his upturned mouth. They stayed like that a moment. Then Izumi pulled away and started walking again as if nothing had happened.

Koji stared glumly after him for a moment and then started again as well, catching up to Izumi with ease.

They began hiking up the crumpled remains of an office building, walking along the rusted iron framing. Izumi started humming halfway along.

Koji was torn between wanting Izumi to always be this happy and wanting him to stay by the dictator's side. It was beginning to feel like he could only have one or the other, not both. He knew Izumi was only this happy because he was getting away from his captor.

Talk resumed shortly, a steady flow of words carrying them for the next few hours. They both were taken aback by the easy camaraderie that had suddenly developed. There was no tension, no anger, no resentment. It felt natural to just chat.

For the first time in his life, Koji found himself wishing he he'd been born into the world in a revolting sack of fluid and mess and had grown up in the poor, substandard living conditions of the human camps. Disgusting as the idea had been to him not a day ago, he realized it would have been a pleasure, a privilege, to exist in such a manner.

In such a world, he'd be able to talk to Izumi like this everyday. Until his organic body turned on itself and decayed. Until 'death'.

"Would it have been better if I'd been a human?" Koji asked suddenly. Izumi furrowed his brow, a small frown puling at his mouth.

"Not particularly. There's a stigma against two men being together. It's not accepted socially."

"I'd have been able to play soccer with you, though. I'd understand siblings. We might have even fought together."

"Would you have fallen in love with me?"

"Yes."

"Then it doesn't matter." Izumi shrugged, as if this summed up everything. Koji thought for a moment.

"What if I'd been a human girl? Would you have liked me then?"

"I like you fine now," Izumi avoided tersely.

"Would you love me?"

"I… don't know…" Izumi smiled as if a funny thought had occurred to him. "You'd have had a harder time raping me if you'd been a girl." Koji stared. It was the first time Izumi had brought up the events of that first night in casual conversation.

"Izumi…"

"It's not so simple," Izumi snapped, going back to testy. "Consider my position."

"If our positions were reversed, I'd still have fallen in love with you. It _is_ that simple. No matter what or who you are, I'd have found you and fallen in love."

"Hurry up. We're almost there."

--

**TBC...**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N - Stregian, I'm so happy I was able to renew your interest in Zetsuai/Bronze. It really is a great series. One of my top five : ). I'm having a little more fun now that I think people are actually reading this! Hopefully I'm not disappointing! Without further ado, chapter ten!  
**

--

Izumi was half-jogging in his eagerness to crest the hill and get his first glimpse of home in over half a month. Not long, comparatively. He'd been away on missions for longer, but for some reason it felt like he hadn't seen the camp in years.

They'd agreed to meet back at the point where Koji and Izumi had parted ways. Izumi promised to be back before 19:00 in exactly two days. Koji had looked mournfully on as Izumi had turned to walk alone the rest of the way.

He wondered with some interest what Koji would do if Izumi never came back. He'd be devastated, of course. It was then Izumi realized the full extent of the trust Koji was placing in him. Izumi could easily have been lying about there being a camp in this area and used the opportunity to disappear into the scattered maze of the wasted city.

He wondered if Koji would try to find him…

All further thoughts of Koji vanished as he finally reached the top and looked down upon the old world fortress his people had converted into their home. The dust colored walls encircled the residential area, while small vegetable gardens littered the surrounding area.

Izumi sprinted down the hill, sliding several inches at a time as the muddy hillside gave way beneath his heels.

One of the guards patrolling the wall had spotted him. His rifle was locked on Izumi's running form. Izumi waved a hand at the man. The guard faltered, lowering his gun. Then he was suddenly jumping up and down in excitement, calling over to the other side of the wall.

The thick concrete gate opened a sliver, just wide enough for a person to pass through. Oddly, before Izumi could reach the door, a blurred figure shot out of the gap and collided hard against him. This was followed by a smaller black-haired blur.

"Brother!"

"Brother! Brother!"

Serika threw her arms around Izumi as Yugo tackled his brother's knees. A double attack. All three fell laughing to the damp ground.

On the hill a lone figure had appeared, watching the reunion unnoticed.

--

"There's a mark on your neck."

Izumi hastened to pull his collar up, concealing the small bruise. Serika was studying him intently, her lips pressed contemplatively together. She pulled at her necklace.

"That looks pretty on you," Izumi said, pulling the needle up through the patch he was attaching to Yugo's shorts. Serika stopped fiddling with the necklace. Seashells. Very rare this far inland. She held it clasped in her fingers.

"Thanks for the necklace, even if it is two weeks late," she teased.

"Better late than never," Izumi quoted with mock sagacity. Serika dropped her hand for the shell she'd been holding.

"Brother, wont you tell me where you've been? I know you don't want the others to know. I wont tell them, but wont you tell _me?_"

Izumi put down his crooked sewing project. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.

"You can't tell anyone, Serika," he warned, his clear eyes locked on hers. She nodded.

"I won't," she replied solemnly. Izumi trusted his sisters word implicitly.

"I've been in Central," he began, resuming his patch work so he wouldn't have to meet her eye. Serika gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth.

"A-are you doing spy work?" she asked shakily. She half-dreaded his answer. Izumi shook his head.

"No. Serika, I was a prisoner." Serika looked both horrified and puzzled. POW's that lived to return from Central were badly disfigured, mentally and physically. A result of the torture they underwent. None of them came back with only a hickey to show for it.

"But… How did… You escaped?" she guessed, still bemused.

"No. He let me go. Conditionally… You remember how I said I'd have to leave again soon? I have to go back. Tonight. In," he glanced at the clock, "two hours. I don't know when I'll come back." If I come back, he thought. Serika was speechless for all of two seconds.

"No. No! Takuto, you can't go back. You just got here. We were so worried!"

Izumi took a steadying breath.

"Serika, he knows where we are. The camp, I mean. By breaking that promise, I could be putting everyone here in jeopardy," he insisted, dropping the sewing abruptly on to the table. Serika, however, started to catch on.

"He? He who?" she asked carefully.

He struggled with what to say. He looked intently at his sister. He'd always been able to tell her the truth. Besides, Serika was too observant to successfully lie to.

"That night after I executed Delta… Was on my way back when he just... showed up. Their leader." Serika's face was blank. It took her a moment to process this.

"Their leader? The Oppressor?" Izumi's silence was confirmation enough.

"We fought. He was stronger and… I've been at the Tower ever since," he finished. Serika didn't look as scandalized as Izumi'd imagined. Instead she looked almost understanding.

"He's the one that gave you that mark," she announced with certainty. She began fiddling with her necklace again.

"I've talked to Mrs. Ozaki. You and Yugo are going to stay with her until I get back. I'll cook dinner tonight before I leave. I'm meeting him at the post office." Izumi rose from the metal chair he'd been sitting in walked over to the kitchenette. He grabbed a box of matches, turned on the gas stove, and lit the eye. He was in the process of pulling out a frying pan when Serika stopped him cold.

"I'm going with you."

He rounded on her so fast, you could hear his neck pop.

"I want to meet him. Even if it's just once. I'll go with you tonight to see you off. I have to make sure my big brother is going to be okay," she declared. Izumi looked like he'd rather swallow fire than let this happen. Serika recognized the foreboding expression and hurried to finish the rest of her argument.

"I wont be able to stop worrying. I need to know what kind of person he is. I need reassurance." Izumi struggled for a refute, but one was not forthcoming. Serika, as usual, was too clever for her age.

Izumi relit the stovetop. It'd gone out while they were talking.

--

**TBC...**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N- OMG an UPDATE! Holy cow! Who saw that coming? **

**I'm so glad to see I've picked up some new readers : D. Thank you everyone for your kind and helpful comments!!! Yes, I'm still planning on finishing this and I apologize for the delay. **

**Well, you've all waited long enough! So here it is : D! Crime of Passion Ch. 11!  
**

--

They'd been delayed an hour by Yugo, who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. In the end, Mr. Ozaki had to hold the screaming child while Izumi and Serika left. It was not an auspicious beginning to the evening.

They'd spent another forty minutes getting there. Twice the time it would have taken Izumi if he were traveling by himself. Serika wasn't as used to the terrain as the rebel captain. It was nearly two hours after the agreed upon deadline. The sun had set forcing the siblings to travel by flashlight, slowing their progress even more.

Finally, a flickering light could be seen among the rubble of what might once have been a post office building. The flagpole was the only standing object left in the crumbled structure. Climbing over an over-turned car, it became apparent that the orange glow was that of a fire.

"That's probably Koji," Izumi said, helping Serika down from the car. He found his feet carrying him across the ground with increased haste. Serika struggled to keep up with him. It'd felt so strange, those two days, not having Koji shadow him. Izumi had caught himself looking over his shoulder for the cyborg several times during his stay.

Izumi and Serika clambered over the remaining wall of the postal building and turned toward the flickering light to greet Koji.

The sight that met Izumi froze him solid where he stood.

Koji was sitting on a stack of cement bricks by the fire, wearing what looked suspiciously like the same clothes he'd come in. His head was turned toward them, having heard their approach, and he was blinking owlishly at Izumi, as if the boy was the last person he'd expected to see. His clothes were dirt-speckled and unkempt. The great dictator had never looked so run down and… lost. He reminded Izumi most of a child who had been deserted. It took Izumi a while to notice the knife in Koji's hand. Behind her brother, Serika let out a loud gasp.

"Koji!" Izumi stumbled foreword, tripping over bricks and broken concrete. He was staring at the knife in Koji's still hand. "Were you attacked?" His voice sounded strangled.

Izumi's distress seemed to awaken Koji from his stunned trance. The cyborg hastily threw the knife aside, banishing whatever lingering thoughts accompanied the blade.

"No. I was just thinking," he blurted out, reaching for Izumi and drawing the slim boy down to him. Koji wrapped shaking arms around the young rebel as if he were never going to let go again.

"You came back. You came back," he was repeating, over and over, like a mantra. Izumi wrapped his own arms comfortingly around Koji's shoulders.

"I said I would." Koji buried his face in the nape of Izumi's neck.

"What were you thinking about just now?" Izumi asked. His voice shook slightly. He was afraid of the answer.

"It's not important," Koji insisted. "I was going to follow you anyways." Izmui went very still in the protective arms.

"You wouldn't dare," he said, sounding slightly hysterical. "You wouldn't have dared do that to me."

"No. I wasn't… I was just thinking… Haven't I said I couldn't leave you?" Koji moved his head to look into Izumi's wild eyes. His tone was soothing.

Izumi calmed a bit. He bit his lip, searching for something to distract from the unpleasant topic at hand. His eyes darted around the campsite and lighted on his nearly forgotten sister. He drew abruptly away from Koji's embrace, rising stiffly to his feet and blushing furiously.

"Ah, Koji, this is my sister, Serika," he said tightly, moving aside so the young girl was fully visible to the cyborg. Serika was staring, mouth slightly ajar. It seemed words had left her completely.

Koji looked startled. He hadn't even noticed her. He stood.

"A pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry it wasn't under better circumstances." He had managed to compose himself fairly quickly. Then again, Koji never had any trouble turning on his 'public' face.

Serika blushed. She hadn't expected the cyborg ruler to be quite that handsome.

"Hello," she replied nervously. "Um, please take care of my brother!" she blurted out. Izumi looked about to choke from embarrassment and shock at Serika's sudden request. Koji, however, was highly amused. He gave Serika a wide smile.

"I will," he promised. Izumi was beat red. He mumbled something in which the words 'firewood' were audible and practically vaulted over the wall in his rush to get away.

--

Serika sat, rather at ease given the circumstance, across the fire from the Oppressor himself. Koji had been grilling her with questions about Izumi. His childhood. His likes. His relationships. Serika readily answered everything she could.

Finally, Koji asked the question he'd been longing to for the past week.

"The scar on his right hip…" He didn't have to finish the inquiry. Serika immediately grew somber. She was silent for a while, and then seemed to reach a decision.

"My elder brother… witnessed our Dad's death. Mom… our mother…" Serika looked away uncomfortably, "killed him and then… stabbed herself." Serika was quiet. She didn't have to look at Koji to know the expression of horrified shock he was wearing. She'd seen it on too many other faces before. There were unfortunately few secrets one could keep in such a small community. Serika swallowed, gearing up to continue.

"Takuto once said… that she'd claimed it was out of love." Serika shook her head. "They'd always been so happy. I guess… I guess Mom didn't want to have to see the day Dad wouldn't love her anymore. Brother's scar… Its from when he tried to protect Dad." She shifted uneasily. "At home… many know what happened, but I've never told anyone why. You're the first." She looked straight up at Koji for the first time that evening.

Koji was staring at her, wide eyed. His felt cold. Though he understood little of human social connections and attachments, to witness the death of someone you love… The pair fell into silence. They didn't speak until Izumi returned. He curiously didn't have so much as a stick of firewood with him.

Serika smiled up at her brother, rising off the ground.

"I'd better head home." She stepped foreword to hug her brother. "I'll see you again, I know." With that she pulled back, smiled at Koji, and climbed with some difficulty back over the post office wall.

Before the back of her head had dropped beneath the top bricks, Koji had once more wrapped Izumi in a hug from behind. Izumi smiled softly.

"Come on," Izumi muttered. "Let's go."

--

**TBC... 3**


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